You may not be able to afford a home, or afford a better home, but Maggie Hassan and Chris Pappas won’t let that distract from what’s important … TO THEM AND THEIR LEFTIST ILK … ABORTION up to (and perhaps after) the instant of birth and GROOMING:

Mortgage interest rates hit 20-year high. 'In October 2021, principal and interest payment on median-priced American home was about $1,500 a month… Now: It's nearly $2,400 a month.' From @axios: https://t.co/T79C5h5Rqd pic.twitter.com/P25aCYMGwR

— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 14, 2022

Oh … and I left out … pushing the world closer to nuclear war. But DON’T expect ADAM SEXTON to cover any of that … Hassan’s and Pappas’ agenda is also HIS agenda.

The post Hassan And Pappas Did That … Mortgage Rates Hit 20-Year High appeared first on Granite Grok.

Drought, drought, drought. We heard it all summer. Even when it rained. “Experts,” say it won’t be enough to alleviate the drought. But here we are, nine months out of twelve, and guess what?

It was the wettest September in eleven years. It is in the top 20 for total precipitation since 1895 at #19.

 

 

That seems like a story to me, but I guess not. We wouldn’t want to mess with drought, drought, drought.

Drought, drought, drought.

We did have several months of below-normal rainfall. Let’s just be clear about that. While April 2022 had above-average rainfall, May, June, and July were dry. August was above the 120-year mean but below the trend. And Septmebr was very wet.

Given all that, the big question must be this. After September, where are we compared to the annual average (Oct 2021 to Sept 2022)?

 

 

We’re just over the mean but below the trend, which seems fair. New Hampshire has been a lot wetter since the Global Warming narrative took root, and maybe that affects the drought reporting but is that how it should be?

It is if you have an agenda.

Will the weather cooperate? October feels wetter to me so far, but it has been above mean every year but one in the past ten, with a majority of those above the rising trend. We’ll need close to five inches of rain this month to beat 2021 and the trend. If we don’t, we should expect to hear Drought, drought, drought. It is, after all, the only song they know.

Sorry, flood flood flood is also popular, but it never drowns out drought, drought, drought because the latter allows for more control, and it’s a lot scarier to have no water than too much. But New Hampshire’s history is dominated by a lot less precipitation than we’ve been getting in recent decades.

 

 

Note: The Jan to Dec mean for NH through 2021 is 44.04 inches.

 

The post Wettest September in NH in Over Ten Years and No one Says A Word About It (Until now). appeared first on Granite Grok.

As predicted in the last Monday Memes, and in the Meme Overflow, I have an overflow-overflow.  Enjoy, and Happy Friday!

If you could, if you send a meme to someone, please say that you found it here (or whichever meme post is appropriate) and give the link.  In theory, it will get at least some to pop over and look.  The idea being is that they may peruse other memes which might then get through as Thought Splinters.  (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  Part IV is making snails-pace progress and I have a few other things I’m also poking at.  Work is… work and I’m playing project manager for a home remodel project too which takes a lot more time than I thought it would.

Now, let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:

*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

For some time now, watching Cancel Culture, I have thought to myself that their erasure of everything that is traditional, everything that has a history, everything that makes our culture American… that this was a replay of the cultural purges that eliminated the FOUR OLDS.

But it’s more than an erasure of our culture; the erasure of people virtually is a dress rehearsal.  Once you can disappear a person from all social life it’s not a far step to disappear them from life itself:

 

 

Not like it’s not been done before.  Socialistopia needs its foundation.

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

After that whole Holocaust thing. we hanged who?

• The Nazi party officials
• The Nazi camp guards (who were “Just following orders”…)
• The medical people who experimented on unwilling victims
• The media people that aided in the Nazi atrocities – and in covering them up

We need Nuremberg II.

 

 

 

For some of the big names, like Fauci, Birx, and others, I’d raffle off the chance to pull the lever.  Or, auction it off.

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

 

In a book that the late great Walter E. Williams sent me – I was honored to have had an occasional correspondence with him, and his autographed-to-me picture hangs on my wall – he had an essay that pointed out that crime rates were much lower back when there were far fewer gun control laws.  And so he asked “What’s different”?

The answer is obvious: culture.

But that’s too simplistic an answer for the Left – a Left bent on razing our current culture to the ground so they can rebuild anew.

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

  

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Pick of the post:

 

 

Troll Level: GODDESS!

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Classic Whittle:

 

 

>>>>>=====<<<<<

 

Palate Cleanser:

 

 

The post Friday Meme Overflow-Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.

Far too often, company policies are crafted at the top and handed down from the top, with no consideration of the people who will be required to work for them. Meanwhile, who is in a better position to tell you what will work and why, than the people doing the job?

Understanding how your people feel about their work and taking steps to ensure their needs are addressed is of the utmost importance to your organization’s potential for success.

And, that just begins to scratch the surface of the importance of employee insights.

What Are Employee Insights?

If more companies put the same effort into understanding their employees that they put into understanding their customers they’d be far better off. A positive employee experience is just as important as a positive customer experience. In fact, employee satisfaction is absolutely vital to the profitability of your company.

An employee insight verbalizes what a worker perceives and observes about the workplace over the course of doing their jobs.  These experiences can have a direct impact on your ability to hire, motivate and retain. And, just as it is more cost effective to hold on to an existing customer than get a new one, it is far less expensive to hold on to an existing employee than it is to seek, vet, hire and train a new one.

Meanwhile, along with the rise of social media has come the ability for people to share the nature of their work experiences. If word gets around that your company is a lousy place at which to work, in addition to struggling to hold on to people, you’re going to have trouble attracting top talent in the first place.

Gathering Employee Insights

The best way to find out how people feel about something is to ask them. However, they must be asked in a way that assures them their opinions are valued and more importantly — won’t result in some sort of negative backlash. In other words, you must make sure people feel safe telling you what they really think.

In most cases, insight gathering is conducted by way of annual surveys. These can be useful, particularly when cloaked in anonymity. However, this form of employee engagement must be crafted in such a way as to provide opportunities to expound upon the questions.

To that end, open-ended questions tend to glean more actionable data than do numerical surveys, in which people are asked to rate something on a numerical scale. These do not provide respondents with an opportunity to express nuanced opinions, which are absolutely critical to gaining useful employee insights.

Survey Types

In most cases, the more narrowly focused the survey, the higher quality data you’ll get. With that in mind, there are four basic types of employee surveys:

Engagement surveys are designed to gather information about how your employees feel about their jobs — and why they feel the way they do.

Experience surveys provide an opportunity for employees to express their overall satisfaction and motivation levels.

Effectiveness surveys provide an opportunity for employees to express their opinions about the performances of their peers.

Pulse surveys, short, quick, and conducted more frequently, can serve as bellwethers between annual surveys of the types listed above.

You Must Go Beyond Surveys

Equally as important as establishing the safety of your respondents is taking action based upon the employee insights provided. If people call attention to something, they expect some sort of change to come from their effort.

Morale suffers when employees are continually surveyed and things stay the same. Eventually, you will no longer get truthful responses, apathy will set in and attrition will begin to occur.

Again, the whole point of gaining employee insights is to ensure that your team feels valued, supported, and appreciated. Ignoring survey results will have the exact opposite effect. Share the results of the survey with the respondents. Tell them what actions will be taken as a result of what the survey’s revelations.

Then — take those actions.

 

The post The Importance of Employee Insights appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s beginning to look a lot like the transgender agenda “genderbread” person is a more common part of Middle School life than just the school in Rhode Island I wrote about yesterday.

Related: Gingerbread Man Goes From ‘Genderless Figure’ to “Genderbread” Transgender-Sex-Education Aid

 

Someone emailed me a picture of it as part of a display in a local middle school in New Hampshire.

 

 

It features at the center of this LGBT display on a wall (I am told) at the Raymond, NH, Middle School.

My source says that since this photograph was taken, ‘It’ has been taken down. I’m unsure if “it” is the entire display or the genderbread component. I’m getting clarification. [Update: the display was up in July and taken down after  – probably at the end of the school year.]

Related: Depopulation Progs Aren’t Transing Your Kids Out Of Empathy

While we wait, you may want to investigate (just for fun) if your Middle School is peddling this unscientific voodoo too. I suspect this “program” to reprogram young minds will turn up in Middle Schools across the gender-fluid-increasingly-less-fruited plains.

And while we wait to hear about that, what do you think about this?

I like how Equality Wins jumps off the upper left corner. It’s so not true, for example. If your position on the gender spectrum is heterosexual, shut the hell up about it. Just saying it is oppressive, bigot. You have no right to express any opinion not approved by the Gaystapo.

But born this way has been proven to be biologically incorrect. No DNA evidence supports it. Just as there is no genetic evidence for why you might prefer blondes, brunettes, redheads, or short bald, pierced people with tattoos, it is nurtured, not nature, by you or others. It’s a choice. Everything, after all, is a choice.

So, yes, you can help who you “love.”

And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with any of that. Adults are expected to make choices and live with them or learn from them. The issue is public schools using taxpayer dollars and public property to nurture a partisan sexual agenda in other people’s children.A plana you would prefer to hide from the parents and taxpayers.

Deliberate deception is an unwise position to defend with any practice.

Related: This Transgender Business Has Only One Logical Conclusion – “Mao Suits”

Puberty blockers, for example, can kill kids. Transed kids are more likely to experience anxiety and attempt and succeed at suicide. Even in the most caring communities, they are more likely to smoke and abuse drugs and alcohol. These issues are endemic in the community.

I don’t see any of these facts on the LGBTQIA display. You’d think an institution dedicated to education would ensure the kiddies had all the information that they’d be allies for the truth. I guess equality of information is not part of the program?

That makes it propaganda, so I’m glad they took it down, but I bet that’s not the only example.

 

 

The post Genderbred Person Pops up In Local NH Middle School – Time to Check Yours? appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you would be so charitable with your time as to truly contemplate this piece (perhaps at length), I would sincerely like to impress upon you something of the most extreme importance in political thought.

We want to thank Mike Belcher for this Op-Ed Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.

The area I would like to explore is the deepest levels of political utility – perhaps even metaphysical.

I intend to demonstrate to you that there are two fundamentally divergent, incompatible, mutually exclusive, and outright warring views – presuppositions, really – about why politics?

Our founders – the original ones, not the refounders of the progressive era, nor their contemporaries of the civil rights era – built for us a “republic, if [we] can keep it.” Yet all we hear today is “Democracy!” What explains this, and what’s the difference, anyway?

To understand that, we must take a brief detour to the philosophy of Hobbes, who described the nature of human relations as a power game, wherein all human interaction can be broken down into a struggle between persons with different interests seeking to impose their will on the other. In his mind, there is no mutually beneficial relationship – just complicated webs of deceits that, when the individual stands triggered, the builder may pounce to consume a foe and express his will – his libido dominandi, or “will do dominate.”

Politics, when viewed through this lens, becomes likewise a complicated game of wielding power to dominate and impose one’s will. This is at the very heart of the concept, and near-worship of, Democracy. You see, Democracy is little more than the expression of a collective libido dominandi and the attempted legitimization of the subjugation of a minority.

After all, in a pure democracy, there are no limits to what the majority can do to you or to me, so long as there is consensus. This consensus, in turn, becomes the mechanism by which people mitigate the natural guilt that comes from being a tyrant – they spread the blame so thinly through democratic consensus that they feel little at all.

This is not the way our founders saw politics. For them, there was something above the concept of domination, and the act of tyranny itself, was not looked upon kindly. The “thing” above it we can simply refer to as “the good,” and a groundbreaking attempt to capture a portion of it on parchment can be found in the Bill of Rights (including the various state versions).

For those who view the natural state of affairs in human relations as sometimes unfortunate and unkind but nevertheless strive for something better – an ethic – democracy itself becomes little more than the least terrible of options. It is certainly nothing to be worshipped. Democracy will, unattended by an ethic and concept of “the good,” always degenerate into two wolves and a sheep deciding on lunch.

The founder’s concept was based on a difficult and perhaps impossible question, “how do we secure the rights of men in perpetuity?”

These rights were rights to be free from tyranny in all forms: in their person, papers, effects, conscience, associations, religion, bodily integrity, use of arms, commerce, and so on.

They were not rights to things, such as food, clothing, housing, and healthcare – you cannot have a positive right to a thing without making a man into a slave on your behalf and unleashing the furious violence of government in the process. Those who would worship at the altar of Democracy, and harbor the libido dominandi against their fellow citizens, are the enemy of a republic.

I plead with you, do not view government as a tool of domination to impose your selfish will. View government as an imperfect and inherently dangerous device with which we can imperfectly strive for an ethical vision – the ethical vision of the founders: the inherent, God-given, inseverable, incontrovertible, incorruptible, and unimpeachable natural rights of man.

 

Mike Belcher is a candidate for State Representative for Carrol County, District 4, out of Wakefield, NH, and can be found at www.MikeBelcher4NH.com

 

Reminder: Content about candidates or by candidates is not an endorsement by GraniteGrok.com or its authors.

The post Against Democracy Worship appeared first on Granite Grok.

This is literally for the documentary that was being filmed there. Jade Sacker was in the Capitol with Antifa member John Sullivan. They appeared together on CNN. They literally planned to film a "riot" and an "insurrection" and Trump supporters... Tom Bowler

From: Norman J Silber
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2022, 5:44 PM
To: tday@gunstock.com
Subject: RSA 91-A demand/request
To Tom Day- President & General Manager of the Gunstock Recreation Area:

Pursuant to the provisions of New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 91-A, I hereby demand that you furnish me with the following documents within the time periods required by the statutes in that chapter:

1-  Copies of each and every contract or agreement for Soulfest (also known as the Soulfest Christian Music Festival), and any amendments thereto.

2.  Copies of any and all documents that reflect or show the Gross Revenues from Soulfest for each of the past 5 years, broken down by year.  Please note this is gross revenue, not gross profit.

3.  Copies of any and all documents that reflect or show the number of attendees at the Soulfest event for each of the past 5 years, broken down by year.

4.  Copies of any and all documents that reflect or show Gross Revenue from the campground at Gunstock for each of the past 5 years for the week of Soulfest.

5.  Copies of any and all documents that reflect or show a number of campground vacancies during the week of Soulfest for each of the past 5 years.

6.  Copies of any and all emails to, from, and/or between Soulfest management or staff or employees and any Gunstock employees, including management and Gunstock Area Commissioners.

7.  Copies of any and all documents that reflect or show any payouts from Gunstock to Soulfest for contract termination.

In accordance with Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c), if you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.

Please note that in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard /common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 NH 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some valid reason that it is not reasonably practicable for you to produce these records in the requested format, I ask that you either do so or explain why it is not practicable for you to comply.

Please also note that under RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such responsive records. This also includes such responsive records (e.g., emails) which may have been deleted from respective Inboxes but are still available on the applicable email server or in your / email host backup system(s).

Please let me know when these records will be sent to me for inspection. You may email the responsive records to me at njs@silbersnh.com.  However, if the volume turns out to be substantial, I can provide you with a Dropbox folder for all of the responsive records to be uploaded.

 

Norman J. Silber

Member of The Florida Bar & the New Hampshire Bar

The post RSA 91A Right To Know: Information on SoulFest appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s been a while since I did a ‘Wake up and Laugh’ because I wasn’t finding anything that amused me enough to share. Guess what?

I think this qualifies.

It’s short, and the topic is something we can all relate to – driving, traffic, how it should be, and how it is: merging, left-hand turns, traffic circles, and more.

Brad Upton “speeds” us through it, so see if you are like him or those other drivers.

 

The post Friday Morning Funny – Speeding is the Answer to Traffic Problems. appeared first on Granite Grok.

Yesterday I posted up the video of the BCRC Keynote Speaker, Brendan Smith of the Weirs Times. He talked about how Bob Lawton had founded this free weekly newspaper, its growth, and how it was distributed across NH. He did bring up that even they have run into Cancel Culture where a couple of people complained about it being distributed – because of a fairly new column called Letters from God (remember, this is a Conservative media outlet by design):

Here is an excerpt from that video where he talks about how differently Market Basket and Shaw’s Supermarkets reacted to complaints concerning the content of the “Letters from God” column that mentioned LGBT:

Full Disclosure – I have not had the time yet to go read them but that shouldn’t matter. What SHOULD matter is Free Speech vs the Cancel Movement that is trying to crush and silence people because a very few don’t like what others either believe or are saying (and yes, I have a post or two in the works about that as well).

Well, since I had to go out and do some errands anyways (Lowe’s, across the street from the Gilford Shaw’s), I went over and decided to see for myself how “crowded” their “front alley” was (the long rectangular area where you are directed to the entrance/exit doors and where some seasonal merchandise is often displayed). To be honest, I was rather underwhelmed by the claim of “not enough room for a newsstand:

https://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Shaws-Supermarket-Gilford-entrance-exit-hallway.mp4

I had called Brendan before I went just to double check and upon my request, he sent me the URL to where one could find the Weirs times across the State – Only in Concord and Dover

• Shaw’s (Damante Drive, Concord)
• Shaw’s (Fort Eddy Road, Concord)
• Shaw’s (Dover)

There are 127 Shaw’s locations in the US – all in New England:

• Maine (19)
• Massachusetts (55)
• New Hampshire (26)
• Rhode Island (8)
• Vermont (19)

So I’m going to contact Shaw’s of Gilford and ask about this now that I have went and looked.  And, perhaps, ask the corporate office to ask how many unique complaints there were.

This could be rather interesting. But I have a request, ‘Grok readers!

If you frequent any of those Shaw’s not in Concord or Dover, especially in NH,  would you please let me know what you find (as most Shaw’s are similarly constructed): Is it so filled such that a rather small newsstand could not be located there?  Or does it look like my video – is it rather empty?  And if you frequent a Shaw’s that is NOT on the first list, please let me know, too, what its “space condition” is?

I think we all know what the real reason is – and it isn’t about space.

The post So the Gilford Shaw’s Decided to Dump the Weir’s Times Because of Space Limitations? I Went and Checked. appeared first on Granite Grok.

Last night was a rather contentious meeting of the Belknap County Republican Party – most because of two agitators (see, I can play the “unnamed” blame game, too). But the details of that will be coming later.

As the title states, Brendan Smith came to give a bit of the history of and what the Weirs Times covers. As a weekly publication, it is very well known here in the Lakes Region of NH as it is an offshoot project of the late Bob Lawton who wanted, in addition to founding and running Funspot (the world’s largest arcade), wanted a newspaper that would be Conservative where the other media outlets in the area/State.

Note: he is open to folks who wish to write articles to submit them (Brendan@Weirs.com) and looking for submissions to its “Mail Boat” – otherwise known as Letters to the Editor. He took a few questions after his address.

From his address, I took away two possible “micro-projects” that I may be asking you, loyal readers, to look into!

The post BCRC October Meeting: Keynote Speaker: Brendon Smith, Editor of the Weirs Times appeared first on Granite Grok.

Every election cycle, candidates make promises to their constituents – but many times those promises are rarely fulfilled. To make matters worse, once in office, politicians have a 90+% chance for re-election – which is why the swamp never gets drained.

We (the voters) keep repeating this insane cycle. It’s like when Lucy promises to hold the football for Charlie Brown and then pulls it away at the last second. We know exactly what will happen, but Charlie Brown falls for the same false promise every time.

And when it comes to voting, we are a lot like Charlie Brown. We don’t have that same clarity when we cast our votes – and fall for the same unfulfilled promises every election.

This is a never-ending cycle that needs to end.

That’s why you need to ask your candidates specific questions that are important to you. Only then will you get specific answers that will provide you with better insights as to how well they align with your concerns and positions.

Here are two questionnaires in PDF format that you can download and use as you like: one is for state office candidates, and the second for federal office candidates. They were written by the Government Integrity Project a few months ago. Feel free to use them, re-write them, put your name/logo on them, or develop your own.

The bottom line… make sure to ask your candidates specific questions that are important to you. Only then will you be in a position to cast an informed vote!

 

 

The post Meaningful Questions to Ask Candidates appeared first on Granite Grok.

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaxx has been linked to a significant rise in heart-related issues among (mostly) young, healthy men. Incidents of heart problems are up over 80% in men 18-39 years of age. And all-cause mortality in the 18-49 age group is off the charts.

Related: Pediatric Cardiologist Says mRNA Spike Proteins are Toxic to the Human Heart

 

New cases of heart inflammation are on the rise following the C19 mRNA injection “carpet bombing,” but never fear. Moderna is here to help.

 

Speaking with SkyNews Australia Business Weekend, [Moderna CEO Stéphane] Bancel detailed Moderna’s new experimental mRNA injection, which he says will “grow back new blood vessels and revascularize the heart.” Naturally, the multi-millionaire Big Pharma executive whose company made billions and counting by conducting illegal gene therapy experimentation on billions of unsuspecting people touted the developments as “super exciting,” before clarifying the treatment would “inject mRNA in people’s heart[s].”

 

They think this is super-exciting. They are SUPER excited.

Quick question. If you suddenly find yourself at increased risk because you did not “deny” the last vaccine, will you be a vaccine denier if you refuse this one?

Asking for a friend.

 

 

 

HT | Gateway Pundit

The post Moderna Has a New mRNA Vaxx (To Help with the Heart Problems Created by Their Last mRNA Vaxx?) appeared first on Granite Grok.

Four-term former State Representative Keith Murphy is the Republican nominee for State Senate District 16.

Keith Murphy is holding a Fall Fundraiser at Murphy’s Taproom in Bedford on October 20th at 6 PM. State Senate District 16 is the towns of Candia, Goffstown, Hooksett, Raymond, and Manchester ward 1.

This State Senate seat was identified as the best New Hampshire State Senate pick-up opportunity for Republicans in 2022. Learn more about Keith Murphy at his website KeithMurphy4NH.com.

Where: Murphy’s Taproom & Carriage House, 393 State Rte 101, Bedford, NH 03110
When: Thursday, October 20th, from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM

Please visit https://keithmurphy4nh.com/oct-20th-fundraiser/ to learn more or to buy tickets.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Keith Carlsen
603-997-1446
keithcarlsen@gmail.com

 

###

The post Press Release: Keith Murphy for State Senate 10/20/2022 Fundraiser appeared first on Granite Grok.

It’s been eight (short?) years since we shared a story about a #woke deli in Melbourne (Australia) – before #woke was even a thing – that sold gingerbread men but called them genderless Figures. Circa 2022, we have a public school using Genderbread people to teach the transgender agenda.

 

Sexual education materials for high school students at South Kingstown School District in Rhode Island include a lesson titled “Gender, Sex, Orientation, Expression” which uses a “genderbread person” to help students understand sexual orientation and gender identity, according to documents obtained by the DCNF. The lesson defines gender-neutral terms and provides videos on transitioning experiences.

 

I was going to keep quiet (I have both the desire and the capacity), but this is too much. The word person has “son” in it. Talk about being insensitive to sons who identify as daughters.

And you even talk about oppression!

 

After teaching the gender symbols for gay men and lesbians and the pride flag, the sexual education curriculum lesson features a lesson on the “cycle of oppression,” according to the documents. The “cycle of oppression” demonstrates how stereotypes eventually lead to “internalized oppression.”

 

This is outrageous.

If you’re going to engage in nutty, left-wing bullish!t at taxpayer expense, you’d better make damn well sure you are only offending people who object to using public funds for partisan social-reengineering.

In related news, conscientious objectors who oppose this sort of taxpayer-funded “sex ed” (for any reason) could experience side effects including social media pillory, doxxing, getting canceled, losing constitutionally protected rights, or, in severe cases, a 5 am visit from “culture counselors” wearing FBI-branded body armor carrying “assault” weapons.

To the Left, the truth is what they say (when they say it), and everything else is oppressive. But is it as oppressive as referring to someone as a genderless person?

Let’s get to work on that, shall we?

 

 

HT | American Wire News

The post Gingerbread Man Goes From ‘Genderless Figure’ to “Genderbread” Transgender-Sex-Education Aid appeared first on Granite Grok.

On Wednesday, the Nashua Chamber of Commerce held a “forum” for the Senate candidates. It was supposed to be a debate … but Hassan refused to participate unless the format was changed.

The change allowed Hassan to tell LIE after LIE after LIE unchallenged. Perhaps the biggest LIE she told is that she believes in bipartisanship.

 

The truth is that on the issues that really matter … the border, domestic energy, deficit spending, judges … Hassan has been a total rubber-stamp for Chuck Schumer.

That Hassan votes with the endless-war uni-party to constantly escalate the war in Ukraine does not make her bipartisan. It makes her unfit to serve as a United States Senator.

 

 

The post This Just Might Be Hassan’s Biggest LIE Yet appeared first on Granite Grok.

If you search Biden Presidential Policy Directive 28, the results tell you it secures data and privacy of signals intelligence data. What it actually does is allow the Feds to invade your digital privacy, indiscriminately spy on everyone, and hide it from you in the name of national security.

Big Brother

The original Policy Directive 28 was put in place by Barak Obama in 2014. It addressed the need for US intelligence services to collect bulk cell phones, internet, or other digital communications as part of their national security mission. But it included basic protections for privacy, civil liberty, and due process (like requiring warrants) for American citizens -at least as lip service.

Joe Biden just erased all those privacy protections while leaving the mandate to collect bulk electronic intelligence.

PPD-28 is hereby revoked except for sections 3 and 6 of that directive and the classified annex to that directive, which remain in effect.

What sort of protections were removed? Section 1 is revoked, which states that:

 

The collection of signals intelligence shall be authorized by statute or Executive Order, proclamation, or other Presidential directive, and undertaken in accordance with the Constitution and applicable statutes, Executive Orders, proclamations, and Presidential directives.

 

and that,

 

The United States shall not collect signals intelligence for the purpose of suppressing or burdening criticism or dissent, or for disadvantaging persons based on their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.  Signals intelligence shall be collected exclusively where there is a foreign intelligence or counterintelligence purpose to support national and departmental missions and not for any other purposes.

 

With Biden’s changes, these protections are gone, which means any government agency can collect or use any digital data for any reason at any time. A Right reiterated in Section 2 is now also revoked.

 

 In no event may signals intelligence collected in bulk be used for the purpose of suppressing or burdening criticism or dissent; disadvantaging persons based on their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion; affording a competitive advantage to U.S. companies and U.S. business sectors commercially; or achieving any purpose other than those identified in this section.

 

The director of National Security is also no longer required to maintain or report the list of permissible uses of bulk digital data grabs, so anything goes.

Section 4 of the 2104 order is also gone, which outlined how,

 

All persons should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their nationality or wherever they might reside, and all persons have legitimate privacy interests in the handling of their personal information.[7]  U.S. signals intelligence activities must, therefore, include appropriate safeguards for the personal information of all individuals, regardless of the nationality of the individual to whom the information pertains or where that individual resides.

 

There are no longer limits on the collection, sharing, retention, or publication of digital information. The safeguards established in PPD-28 (2014) for oversight are also revoked, as are any reporting requirements in section five.

The only portions of the original Presidential Policy Directive on Signals Intelligence Activities are the justification for collecting it, hiding it, and the President’s right to use it however they see fit to protect the United States.

The Feds just gave themselves permission to collect any digital data they can scoop up and use it however they see fit.

Question?

The New Hampshire Bill of Rights, Article 2-b, states, “An individual’s right to live free from governmental intrusion in private or personal information is natural, essential, and inherent.”

Biden’s revocation of protection in PPD-28 clearly violates that right.

Will New Hampshire object? Will it protect its citizens? Defend them from any Federal action resulting from data collection under the new, amended Presidential Policy Directive on Signals Intelligence Activities.

Can they?

I don’t think they can or will, which begs another question. Can citizens seek redress in the courts for violations against their Constitutionally protected right to privacy? And if they can’t, what course of action is available to them for the violation of their first amendment right to redress of grievances?

 

 

The post Big Brother Joe Biden Just Erased Your Digital Privacy Protections With One Sweep of His Pen appeared first on Granite Grok.

SAU 50/Greenland is using Kimochis therapy in the classroom. However, the Superintendent is in denial that this SEL program is not providing group mental health therapy in the classroom. This kind of denial is not the first I’ve encountered by administrators in New Hampshire.

SEL proponents have shied away from admitting that this is mental health treatment on children in the classroom. It’s why I always confirm with educated and clinically trained professionals in the mental health field that SEL falls under the umbrella of mental health services.  I did that early on when SEL was thrust into public schools across the country. I wanted to make sure that parental consent would be required through the Federal Law, Every Student Succeed Act. (ESSA)

So we begin the process of turning public schools into mental health clinics.

You should first start by reading the Right to Know Request I sent to  SAU50/Greenland. You can read that here.

Now you can read the reply to me from the Superintendent and then my reply back to him.

Here are the answers to my three questions and the Superintendent’s answers are in BOLD:

Stephen Zadravec
Wed, Oct 12, 12:41 PM 

Hi Ann Marie,
Thanks for reaching out. I embedded answers to your questions below. I also looked at the attached blog and would point out that there are some assumptions there that are not true. There is no individual or group mental health therapy going on, and no assessments or screenings are being given. In fact there is no student data being collected at all in relation to the classroom lessons.
Thanks,
Steve

 

1) A copy of the consent form sent to parents by Maggie Olsen, School counselor, or any other representative from the Greenland School District, to treat children with the Kimochis program.

A letter was sent to parents indicating what universal programming the counselor would be doing with the children. Discussions at the universal level are whole class teaching. As such, she is not “treating” children.

2) A copy of the credentials of all counselors or school personnel who will be providing therapy for students using the Kimochis program.

The counselor is not offering therapy for students with the Kimochis program. That said, the counselor is a certified school counselor (endorsement 0040).

3) A copy of all questions on any screenings or assessments used to accompany the Kimochis program.

The counselor is not doing any screenings or assessments accompanying the Kimochis program. There is not any student identifiable information being collected.

Stephen Zadravec
Superintendent of Schools
SAU 50
48 Post Rd
Greenland, NH 03840
603-422-9572

My response back to the Superintendent: 

Superintendent Zadravec,
I should tell you that I made sure early on, with the national push for mental health treatment in the schools, to confirm that these kinds of programs would be categorized as treating the mental health of children. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires parental consent when you provide mental health services.

SEL funding is coming through the SAMHSA grant, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. All SEL programs must be approved by CASEL.

I spoke with parent advocate attorneys during the writing of ESSA. ESSA included the provision to require consent by parents on the mental health service or assessment of children enrolled in a public school. Kimochis would be considered group therapy among children.

From the University of Maryland School of Medicine: https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/media/SOM/Microsites/NCSMH/Documents/Resources/Every-Student-Succeeds-Act.pdf
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and School Mental Health: Implications for Schools, Districts, and States
Resources: School Mental Health and ESSA:
Excerpt:
Website

Relevant Information: Title IV Part A (SSAEC): flexible block grant. Districts must use at least 20% of these funds on efforts to improve “student mental and behavioral health, school climate, or school safety.” Includes a list of example activities, including ‘comprehensive school mental and behavioral health delivery systems.’

From the National Library of Medicine:
Social and emotional learning: a framework for promoting mental health and reducing risk behavior in children and youth
Abstract

Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students’ health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and program features. The SEL competencies for students include 17 skills and attitudes organized into four groups: awareness of self and others; positive attitudes and values; responsible decision making; and social interaction skills. The 11 program features critical to the success of school-based SEL programs emphasize curriculum design, coordination with larger systems, educator preparation and support, and program evaluation. Developed by the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the SEL framework can be used to guide selection of research-based prevention programs that address health, substance abuse, violence prevention, sexuality, character, and social skills.

The National Association on Mental Health cited SEL as a support for children who are coping with “mental health conditions.”

Kimochis also promotes their program to the mental health professionals working in the school, and then includes testimonials by therapists.
For Mental Health Professionals
Kimochis® short cuts the talking that is the cornerstone of many therapies.
They allow kids and adults to rapidly and safely explore and translate emotions into root causes that can be dealt with immediately.

Listed on the Child Therapy List / The Best Way to Get Help for Your Child: Kimochis

Kimochis: Getting Started in a Mental Health Setting

I make no judgments on the Kimochis program itself. This program may very well be one that supports the mental health of children in the district, but that is not the point. The point is, this should be done with informed consent by parents.

If the SEL program in the future includes a screening or assessment of children, that too would require the school counselor to obtain informed consent.

What happens if a child, while sharing their “feelings,” since that is the goal of Kimochis, decides to revisit trauma? What is the school counselor trained to do under these conditions? School Counselors do not have the education or clinical training that I would want for my children if they were in that position.

Here is a frightening example of good intentions gone bad. Children who’ve suffered the loss of a loved one can experience trauma, but as you will see in the video, psychotherapeutic techniques (10:00) can have a negative impact on children too. In this example, you can see how it even became dangerous. While Kimochis may be the tool that draws out a child’s feelings and emotions, how is that then managed? All of this should be explained to parents so they know exactly what this kind of therapy looks like in the classroom, and how it will impact their children. That is exactly why informed consent was added to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA.)

I will forward all of this to Diana Fenton at the New Hampshire Department of Education so that she can begin an investigation.

Since I have received professional advice from those who do have the credentials and education in mental health, confirming this program does treat the mental health of children, I would highly advise that you seek legal advice. This may boil down to litigation at some point. I would certainly advise parents to seek legal advice if they have not consented to any SEL program used on their children without their consent.

You are not the first school administrator to deny that this kind of SEL treatment is not mental health treatment, but I have a Phd Child Psychologist telling me the opposite. If you were administering cancer treatment to all children in a class but denied it was a cancer treatment, but I had a cancer specialist telling me it is a cancer treatment, I’m going to have to believe the cancer specialist.

This is how parents lose trust in the people working with their children. Similar to when the bus driver was assigned to another bus route after parents brought forth information about how he was acting inappropriately towards their son. It is critical that the leadership in this district focus on building back that trust.

One way to build trust is to understand that parents will certainly see the connection to the school counselor using an SEL program that has been reported as mental health treatment for their children. There is plenty of evidence to confirm this. It would be a positive step forward in building back that trust by explaining all of this to parents, and asking for their permission.

Thank you again for your prompt response.

 

The post SEL/ Psychology in the Classroom: Public School’s Denial and a Violation of Federal Law? appeared first on Granite Grok.

Dear Abigail (Abigail R. Esman – IPT News),

I think you misunderstood the Iranian revolution. See, they are not just fighting to remove their hijab. They are fighting to remove Islam. They are fighting for their dignity. They are fighting for their identity. They are fighting for freedom.

They are fighting to remove the Islamic Republic from Iran.

Forty-four years have passed since the imposed Islamic invasion of 1979. Today, many Iranians are incorrigibly disaffected by the fraudulent and oppressive Islamic rulers. Although Islam was imposed on the Iranian people some 1,400 years ago, Iranians deeply value their own ancient non-Arab identity and have never fully surrendered to Arab culture. Hijab is the regiem’s achilles heel. Once (the Berlin wall) hijab falls. the regime falls.

Today, Iranians have finally awakened and are returning back to their roots and identity. Some people have thanked Ayatollah Khomeini for this enlightenment. For revealing the true nature of Islam, not the figment of their imaginations about Islam.

Many have already started to refer to this period as an era of the Iranian renaissance or awakening.

Historically, Islam has always contradicted Persian values, costumes, traditions, and culture, as is evident from the glorious pre-Islamic Iranian festivities and celebrations such as Nowruz.

The current anti-Islam movement in Iran has recently gained serious momentum, especially among the younger generation, who are well-informed and aware of world events via the Internet.

Many Iranians continue to abandon slaveholder Islam: they break loose from the yoke of an exploitive clergy, renounce Islamic dogma, purge the discriminatory and bizarre teachings in the Quran and the Hadith, and leave the suffocating tent of dogmatic Islam for the life-giving expanse of liberty.

The rule of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is collapsing. The previously solid castle shows many cracks that continue to grow. In the past, when individuals were willing to sacrifice their life under any circumstances for the sake of Islam and any criticism of Islam, even in their own mind, was considered a sin, today, it is easy to criticize and challenge religion.

A nation that, forty-four years ago, preferred to speak of Ayatollah Khomeini as saint-like and almost godly, is now openly reviled without any fear of retribution. The Iranian people now recognize that dysfunctional Islamic indoctrination is deeply ingrained in the minds of many Muslims who opt to remain in mental bondage rather than purge their minds and join the rest of the human family with a new emancipating program for life and liberty.

No, this is NOT an anti-hijab revolution, but I am hopeful that the Iran women’s revolution inspires other Muslim women worldwide to abandon not just their hijab, but the slaveholder Islam in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Amil

The post Abigail, I Think You Have Misunderstood Iran’s Women’s Revolution appeared first on Granite Grok.

Analysis of the 2014 coup in Ukraine by Robert Parry, The Mess that Nuland Made, reveals the origins of today's confrontation with Russia. Note that Parry's article was published in July 2015. As the Ukrainian army squares off against ultra-right... Tom Bowler